Leg-socket.



EDWARD I.. WATROUS, OF DES MOINES, IOWA, 1S-SIGNOR TO VDAVID B. GANN, OF

. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LEG-SOCKET.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 18, 1910. Serial N o. 556,279.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD L. WATRoUs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, havev invented a certain new and useful Leg-Socket, of which the following is a specification. i

The object of my invention is to provide a leg socket especially adapted for use in conn necting supporting `legs with articles such, for instance, as washing machine bodies, which socket may. be formed complete from a single piece of sheet metal and which is so arranged and constructed that it will not only provide a socket for the leg but will also provide a gage by which a number of sockets may be connected to the body tol be supported all at uniform distances from the lower edge of said body.

More specifically it is my object to provide a socket of this class designed to be used in connection with and to coact with a round hoop at the lower portion of the body to be supported in such a manner that the socket will accurately lit around the hoop and at the same time the hoop of itself will coact with the socket to firmly and securely hold a wooden leg driven into the socket.

My invention consists in certain details, in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth. pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying` drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a front view of a socket embodying my' invention. Fig. 2 shows a sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. l. F ig. 3 shows a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 shows a vertical, central, sectional view of a socket embodying my invention applied to a part of a body to be supported and having a wooden leg in position therein.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate the front of the socket. The front is preferably strengthened and reinforced by means of ribs 11 extended transversely and it is also provided with an opening 12 near its center to receive a screw. The sides of the socket are indicated by the numeral 13 and preferably flare outwardly away from each other toward the rear of the socket. These sides are provided at their edges with the flanges 14, which flanges have at their upper and lower ends the screw openings 15. The said sides are provided with reinforcing ribs 16 in line with the ribs 11 and being a continuation of said ribs 11. The top of the socket is indicated by the numeral 17 and it has an upwardly extended flange 18 provided with a screw opening 19.

' As will be seen by referring to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the rear of the socket is of substantially segmental shape to fit the contour of a round washing machine body or the like. rlhe sides of the socket extend a considerable distance below the front, and an intergal cross-piece 20 extends across the throat of the socket between said sides below the front wall 10 and thus forms a yielding bearing for the tub leg. The socket liares outwardly below the front 10. The cross-piece 2O is formed and positioned by folding inward the lower portions of the side walls 13 approximately midway of their height to form walls 21 substantially perpendicular to the plane of the front but which do not extend inward to the bases of the side walls. This cross piece 2O is provided at its upper edge with outwardly eX- tended sharpened points 22 which are designed to engage a wooden leg driven into the socket. At the bottom of the cross piece 2O is an extension 23 projected rearwardly and designed to extend under the lower edge of the body of a washing machine or the like indicated in Fig. by the numeral 24. The cross piece 2O and the extension 23 are provided with a number of strengthening and reinforcing ribs 23a. rThis body is provided with a round hoop 25 ofthe ordinary construction. The part 23 is provided with means by which it may be secured to the bottom of the body 24 such, for instance, as an opening therein to receive a screw as shown at 26 in Fig. 4.

One of the important features of my present invention is that the flanges 14 and the sides 13 are provided at a point between the front l0 and the cross piece 20 with a rounded rib 27 and in this connection another important feature is that the sheet metal cross piece 20 is arranged a short distance in front of the adjacent portions of the flanges 14E so that the cross piece 20 is substantially in line vertically with the concave portion of the rounded rib 27. The advantage of this part of my invention is that, when the socket is placed on an article to be supported that is provided with a round hoop 25, the said hoop will be received in the rounded rib 27 so that the flange li may fit tightly against the article to be supported and the advantage of having the sides 13 tapered from a maximum width at their lower ends to a minimum at their upper ends, as shown in Fig. 4, is that when a wooden leg 28 is placed in the socket the front of the leg will fit fiat against the front 10 and the rear of the leg will fit against the body 24 at its top and against the rounded hoop 25 and the cross piece 2O at its rear so that the leg will stand in a position slightly inclined awa-y from the adjacent side of the body to which it is supported. In devices of this class that are used in connection with a washing machine body or the like having a round hoop, it is essential to have the upper end of the socket of less depth than the lower end in order to permit a leg to be inserted therein outside of the hoop and to have the socket fit against the leg at its top and also at the point adjacent to the rounded hoop as said rounded hoop necessarily extends outwardly from the Washing machine body.

In practical use it is obvious that the entire socket may readily and easily be formed of a single piece of sheet metal by means ofsuitable dies and formers. It is also obvious that in attaching said sockets to a washing machine body or the like the operator may very quickly and accurately place them in position because of the fact that there is a double gage for each socket. The extension 23 is placed under the edge of the washing machine body and the rounded rib 27 is placed over the round hoop. Therefore it is very easy to position the sockets upon the washing machine body all in the same plane so that when legs of the same size are used the washing machine or the like will be supported in a level horizontal position. The sockets are secured to the body by means of screws or other fastening devices in the ordinary way and after each socket is firmly fixed to the washing machine body or the like the operator drives the wooden legs 28 into the sockets until the upper ends of the legs reach the top of the socket. In driving these wooden legs into the sockets they will be firmly wedged between the round hoops 25 and the front of the socket. In addition to this the legs will be held in position in the sockets by means of the pointed projections 22 so that when the legs are once driven in position they will be firmly and securely held without additional securing devices although I have provided an opening 12 in the front of the socket to receive a screw by which the leg may be additionally secured in position.

I claim as my invention:

l. A leg socket integral throughout and lcomposed of sheet metal and adapted to be attached to a tub, said socket being of uniform width from top to bottom but tapering upwardly in thickness, said socket having a bar across its throat and forming the inner wall thereof and being adapted to yield to expand the throat when the socket is attached to a tub.

2. A leg socket consisting of a single piece of sheet metal, said socket adapted for attachment to a. tub or other support and being of tapering thickness from bottom to top and having an integral sheet `Inetal cross-piece which forms a yielding inner wall for the mouth of said socket and is provided with integral spurs arranged for engagement with the wooden leg carried by the socket.

3. A device of the class described formed complete of a single piece of sheet metal and comprising a front and sides, and means for attaching the same to a support, said sides being of tapering width from bottom to top and being extended below said front, and a yielding cross-piece integral with said sides and located adjacent their lower ends and spaced apart from their inner edges, said cross-piece having ribs therein extending crosswise thereof.

4. A leg socket of sheet metal comprising a hollow body portion having a front member and side members, said side members being tapering in width, apertured flanges eX- tending laterally from said side members, a cross-piece below said front member and formed integral with the side members and protruding at the throat of said socket so that a leg of substantially uniform thickness may be placed in the Socket with its front in engagement with the socket front and its rear in engagement with said cross-piece, said cross-piece being spaced `apart from the article t0 which the socket is applied by a distance sufficient to admit atub hoop under the leg near said cross-piece.

5. An improved leg socket adapted to be attached to a tub, comprising a main body portion having a front of rectangular outline, side members integral with the front to project iinder the edge of the supporting and proj eoting below the same, a sheet metal tub.

cross-piece connected with said side Inem- Des Moines, Iowa, March 16, 1910.

bers below said front and so positioned as EDWARD L. WATROUS. 5 t0 be spaced apart from a, tub on which the Vitnesses:

socket may be carried, and an extension at W. R. LANE,

the lower edge of said Cross-piece arranged I. V. CURRAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

